Cuba's Communist Party has announced Miguel Díaz-Canel will succeed Raúl Castro as the party's first secretary.
Díaz-Canel, who in 2018 succeeded Raul Castro as Cuba's president, had been widely tipped for the arguably more influential post of party leader.
The transition means that the island will be governed by someone other than Fidel or Raúl Castro for the first time since the Cuban revolution in 1959.
Díaz-Canel is seen as loyal to the Castros and their economic model.
It follows the announcement on Friday that Raúl Castro was stepping down from the key position of first secretary.
The 89-year-old had been in the post since 2011, when he took over from his older brother, Fidel Castro.